


Inktober 2020

by ezazahaz



Series: Inktobers [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Getting Together, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Inktober 2020, Jealous Steve, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Meet-Cute, Memory Suppressing Machine | The Chair (Marvel), Multi, Pets, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Search and Rescue, Steve Rogers Can Wield Mjolnir, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark is Good With Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 17,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26760853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ezazahaz/pseuds/ezazahaz
Summary: Short works inspired by Inktober prompts. A mix of Steve/Tony, Steve/Tony/Bucky, Tony/Bucky, and team friendship. Fluff and angst, and a mix of AUs and canon/canon-adjacent.Most recent updates (full index in Notes):10. Hope (Tony/Bucky) - All seems hopeless when Bucky is recaptured by Hydra.11. Disgusting (Tony & Clint, Avengers Team) - When the enemy you’re fighting explodes, the result can be... unpleasant.12. Slippery (Steve/Tony) - Steve is a barista, and Tony takes a spill.13. Dune (Tony & Yinsen) - Yinsen saves Tony one more time.14. Armor (Tony/Bucky) - Bucky returns from a mission and is surprised by Tony’s latest project.15. Outpost (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - His lovers gone, Steve waits alone on a remote space station, trying to hold onto hope.16. Rocket (Tony & Jarvis) - Tony gets in trouble at school.17. Storm (Steve/Tony) - Tony discovers the cause of the recent storms.18. Trap (Tony/Bucky) - A trap is laid and an Avenger goes down.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Ho Yinsen
Series: Inktobers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1960354
Comments: 42
Kudos: 205





	1. Fish (Steve/Tony preslash)

**Author's Note:**

> Since I actually completed the whole month last year, I’m giving Inktober another try this year! Of course, 2020 being the year from hell, we’ll see whether I can maintain it this time, but I’ll at least give it a shot.
> 
> Works so far:  
> 1\. Fish (Steve/Tony preslash) - Steve and Bucky find something unusual when out fishing.  
> 2\. Wisp (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - Tony searches for a sign of his lost boys in a frigid landscape.  
> 3\. Bulky (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - Steve and Bucky’s bed was not made for three, especially not when two are super soldiers.  
> 4\. Radio (Tony/Bucky preslash) - An intriguing customer visits Tony’s repair shop.  
> 5\. Blade (Steve/Tony) - Steve doesn’t see the blade in time, but Tony does.  
> 6\. Rodent (Natasha & Avengers Team, Steve/Tony) - Thor brings some alien pets to the Tower. Natasha has a plan to convince Tony to let them stay.  
> 7\. Fancy (Steve & Morgan, Steve/Tony, Tony/Pepper) - Morgan almost spills Tony's surprise at a tea party with Steve.  
> 8\. Teeth (Bucky/Tony) - Accelerated healing has limits, and Bucky has trauma.  
> 9\. Throw (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - Impossible carnival games are not so impossible for super soldiers.  
> 10\. Hope (Tony/Bucky) - All seems hopeless when Bucky is recaptured by Hydra.  
> 11\. Disgusting (Tony & Clint, Avengers Team) - When the enemy you’re fighting explodes, the result can be... unpleasant.  
> 12\. Slippery (Steve/Tony) - Steve is a barista, and Tony takes a spill.  
> 13\. Dune (Tony & Yinsen) - Yinsen saves Tony one more time.  
> 14\. Armor (Tony/Bucky) - Bucky returns from a mission and is surprised by Tony’s latest project.  
> 15\. Outpost (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - His lovers gone, Steve waits alone on a remote space station, trying to hold onto hope.  
> 16\. Rocket (Tony & Jarvis) - Tony gets in trouble at school.  
> 17\. Storm (Steve/Tony) - Tony discovers the cause of the recent storms.  
> 18\. Trap (Tony/Bucky) - A trap is laid and an Avenger goes down.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky find something unusual when out fishing.

Steve was half dozing when he suddenly realized he was feeling a tug on his line.

“Buck!” he shouted, jerking upright and gripping his rod tighter, the sudden movements jostling their small boat. “What do I do?”

“Well, first, maybe don’t capsize us?” Bucky suggested dryly. He didn’t look particularly perturbed by the possibility, though, looking as relaxed as he had the entire afternoon. Of course, his bucket was full of fish, while Steve’s still sat empty, so Bucky’s relaxation seemed a lot more productive than his own. “Finally snagged one, huh?”

“Given my luck it’s probably an old boot,” Steve grumbled, but he still felt excitement as he pulled his rod back and started reeling it in.

“Careful,” Bucky reminded him, setting his own rod aside and moving to assist Steve, talking him through the steps he’d demonstrated multiple times but that Steve had not yet had a chance to try out.

Finally, Steve’s catch broke the edge of the water, and his excitement turned to confusion.

“What the hell?” Bucky seemed as taken aback by the... thing hanging from the line as Steve was.

It was fish-shaped, and it flopped about like a fish, but it seemed to be man-made. Not like those wall-mounted singing bass, but intricately designed and built from dozens of mismatched pieces of metal. Most of it was grey, some bronze, and it appeared to be strung together with a hodgepodge of materials--some organic, some not.

Still hanging from the line close to the boat, it suddenly stopped flopping. Then one of the small beads--were those pearls?--that functioned as eyes turned to look at them, and a mournful warble emitted from it.

“What. The hell?” Bucky repeated, staring at the thing.

“I... guess I caught a robot fish?” Steve said, finding himself pulling his catch the rest of the way in. Instead of setting it in his empty bucket, he put down his rod to cradle the mechanical fish in both hands, holding it up to his face. It was actually kind of cute, and gave another little warbling beep. “Hey there, fella, you got a name?”

“You think it’s gonna answer you?” Bucky asked, smirking and relaxing back on his side of the boat again.

“Dummy!”

Steve nearly dropped the fish at the shout from somewhere close. They were a fair distance from shore, and he hadn’t noticed any other boats nearby. Looking around, he followed Bucky’s gaze to a figure several yards out.

The man seemed an exceptionally strong swimmer, treading water easily after apparently swimming some distance. He didn’t appear out of breath, but looked a little frantic, dark wet hair plastered to his forehead, expressive eyes scanning the surface until he spotted them.

Then he looked almost fearful for a moment before approaching, something odd in his swimming technique, though Steve had trouble identifying what that was.

“Uh, hello,” the man greeted them, a nervous smile on his lips. Now that he was only a few feet away, Steve noticed more details--the long lashes, the muscular arms, the necklace with a blue shell that almost seemed to glow. He was beautiful.

“Hey,” Bucky responded first, his voice easy and not betraying the hint of wariness Steve saw in his tense shoulders. “Out for a swim?”

“Something like that. You haven’t seen...?” The man’s eyes moved from Bucky to Steve to the mechanical fish Steve was still clutching--that had now started squirming. “There you are, Dummy, you piece of flotsam, always getting yourself into trouble.” Was he talking to the robot fish?

After a moment the swimmer seemed to realize there were two people staring at him. “Oh, um, right--looks like you found my bot, may I have him back, please?” He reached out with both hands, a surprising amount of his chest remaining above the surface even as he must’ve been treading the water with just his legs.

Steve found himself reluctant to part with the oddly emotive artificial fish, but it seemed to be straining toward the swimmer, as though it recognized its owner. “Did you make this?” Steve asked as he slowly lowered it into the man’s waiting hands.

“I did,” he answered, clutching his creation to his chest. It gave a little coo.

“It’s adorable,” Steve said.

The man’s nervous smile gave way to something more pleased. “Thank you.”

Before Steve could say anything more, he dropped lower into the water and turned away.

“Wait! I’m Steve, what’s your name?”

The man didn’t reply at first, but he stopped moving and a moment later, answered, “Tony.”

“Nice to meet you, Tony.”

The swimmer--Tony--turned his head back just slightly to give Steve a smile and a nod, then turned away and vanished beneath the surface.

Steve tried to watch for him resurfacing somewhere a bit away, but didn’t spot so much as a ripple of bubbles.

“Well, you don’t see something like that everyday,” Bucky said, and Steve was surprised to realize he’d sort of forgotten about his friend for a minute.

“A robot fish?” _Or a beautiful man gifted in both swimming and robotics?_ he didn’t add.

“A mermaid.”

Steve blinked. “Wait, what?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it was not obvious: I know nothing about fishing.


	2. Wisp (Steve/Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony searches for a sign of his lost boys in a frigid landscape.

Tony refuses to let his eyes shut for longer than a blink, fighting the fatigue trying to take over. Sure, JARVIS could pilot the suit if he falls asleep, and he would continue the scans, but what if Tony’s eye catches something that the sensors don’t detect as anomalous?

“Sorry, Tony, I’ve got to head back. The ‘jet and I are almost on empty.” Clint’s voice through the coms is regretful but exhausted.

“Fine,” Tony replies, not caring if his reply sounds a little short. “I’ll keep looking.”

“You need sleep, too.” Natasha’s voice betrays no exhaustion, instead a hint of command that Tony has no interest in following.

“I’ll sleep when they’re home safe.” Because there is no other option.

He ignores their sighs and keeps searching.

He scans the landscape of pines and snow, seeking out any sign of damaged limbs, disturbed snow, anything that might indicate a nearby plane crash.

It has to have been sabotage, for the tracker to stop working before the plane even went down. The radio had still been working, though, so Tony had the agony of listening to Steve and Bucky as they fought to keep the craft in the air, but somehow sparing the time to try to reassure their boyfriend who sat hundreds of miles away, unable to do a damn thing about it. Their final-- _not final, they’re supersoldiers, they’ve survived all sorts of things like this_ \--words of love still echoed in Tony’s ears.

Tony swallows. He thinks of Aunt Peggy’s story of listening to Steve’s promise of a dance even as he deliberately crashed another plane, decades before Tony was born. He thinks of his dad, spending so much time away from his family while searching for a man the world believed long dead. He thinks of Steve’s teary-eyed account of watching from a train as Bucky plummeted to an icy canyon, a fall no normal human being could have survived.

But they had both survived, against all odds. And they would again. Tony would find them and bring them home and everything would be fine.

He fought back the tears threatening, because he needs to _see_ to bring them home, dammit!

Frustrated, he pauses in his ever-expanding circle of their last known coordinates, hovering over the treetops and letting his faceplate and one gauntlet slide back so he can brush away the pointless tears.

The shock of the cold air helps refresh him, while at the same time reminding him that even ~~if~~ though they are alive, both of his lovers have trauma regarding cold like this. Sure, they’ve proven they can weather such elements better than unaugmented humans, but it’s going to be rough on them, both physically and emotionally.

Taking one more deep breath of icy air, his eyes clear, Tony’s about to close the faceplate again when he sees it.

A wisp of smoke.

It could’ve been a figment of his imagination, but he immediately closes the faceplate and has the heads up display zoom in.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right?

He speeds toward it, pushing the armor to its top speed, and hope surges as he realizes the trees in this direction have branches missing or pushed back in a distinct path, just as he’d been looking for.

There!

He spots a detached flap from the plane’s wing first, and fights the fear it induces, holding onto hope as most of the body of the plane comes into view, mostly intact. He sends a quick message to the quinjet and follows the wreckage.

The smoke isn’t coming from the crash, but from a small campfire a little ways away. Sheltered up against one detached wing of the plane, under a blanket that doesn’t look nearly thick enough for this weather, two familiar figures sit huddled together.

The heady relief nearly makes him drop out of the sky before he regains control and lands mostly gracefully beside them.

Raising his faceplate, Tony fights hard to keep his voice steady as he quips, “Having a campfire without me?”

He sees the relief he feels mirrored on Bucky’s face as he looks up at Tony from under the blanket. Steve is huddled practically in Bucky’s lap, face tucked into his chest, and doesn’t react to the sound of Tony’s voice.

Worry surges through Tony, but Bucky’s lighthearted response, “Just waiting for you to bring the marshmallows for s’mores”, reassures him a little.

“Sorry, guess we’ll have to go back home for those.”

“Home sounds good,” Bucky says, his tone more heartfelt. “Ready to go home, Stevie?” he asks the blond in his lap, and gets barely a mumble in response.

“Is he hurt?” Tony asks quietly. Neither of the two shows obvious signs of serious injury, though there’s some dried blood on Bucky’s forehead, and most of the rest of their bodies are hidden under clothes and blankets.

“He’ll be okay once we’re warm again,” Bucky answers. The look on his face suggests nightmares will be a strong possibility the next few nights, however.

“Quinjet’s on its way, should be less than ten minutes,” Tony says. Then he takes a deep breath and steps out of the suit into the cold, moving to share his own body heat with his freezing boys. And, “J, toaster mode.”

The suit opens and adjusts position to send some warm air toward them from an angle the fire’s heat doesn’t reach. It’s not nearly as efficient as warming the armor’s wearer, but it’s something.

Tony nestles under the blanket along Steve’s back, earning a pleased groan from the blond, his first acknowledgement of Tony’s arrival. But Tony notices that, while Bucky seems to be trying to help arrange the blanket for the three of them, he’s only using his right arm to do it.

“Are _you_ hurt?” Tony asks.

Bucky starts to shrug, then winces. “Just the arm, nothing you can’t fix, I’m sure.”

“I’m sure,” Tony agrees. He’d insist on taking a look at it now if they weren’t in such a frigid climate. He realizes the connection between the metal arm and Bucky’s flesh shoulder must be aching with cold, as well.

He directs the suit to change position so warmth is focused directly toward Bucky’s shoulder. It takes a minute to warm the fabric of the blanket and clothes, but Tony feels some tension leave Bucky as he sighs gratefully. “Thanks, Tony.”

At that, Steve’s head comes up, apparently a bit more aware now. “T’ny? Found us?” he asks in a whisper.

“‘Course I did,” Tony replies, wrapping his arms more tightly around Steve. “Couldn’t leave my best guys out in the middle of nowhere.” He doesn’t mention the cold, afraid acknowledging it will only make it worse.

“Go’n’ home?” He sounds so young and yearning it breaks Tony’s heart.

“Yeah, big guy, in just a couple minutes the quinjet’ll be here and we’ll go home.”

“Mmm,” Steve hums, and shifts to pull Tony’s arm closer around his waist as he nuzzles again into Bucky’s chest.

After the relief of finding them, Tony’s exhaustion from earlier comes back full force, and he’s nearly asleep by the time the quinjet arrives to take them home.


	3. Bulky (Steve/Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulky (Steve/Tony/Bucky) - Steve and Bucky’s bed was not made for three, especially not when two are super soldiers.

Tony loves sleeping in Steve and Bucky’s bed, in the middle of his super soldier sandwich.

Most of the time.

Right now, Steve’s knee is pressing on his bladder and pinning his lower half, while Bucky’s beautiful metal arm is draped over Tony’s chest.

And Tony needs to get to the restroom.

Both soldiers sleep lightly when there’s potential danger in the field, but they sleep like the dead when they’re safe at home. So Tony is left maneuvering himself out from their weighty limbs without them waking enough to even roll over a bit. It’s a tough maneuver, made even more difficult due to trying not to put additional pressure on his full bladder, but eventually he manages to navigate out from between them and he makes it to the toilet just in time.

Once relieved and washed, he returns to the bed to find that, of course, _now_ they’ve shifted, closing the gap between them, possibly to take advantage of the warmth he’d left behind. That means he’s not getting back in the middle, but that’s fine, there’s now some space between Bucky and the edge of the bed where Tony should be able to fit.

He tucks himself under the edge of the blanket that’s left, rests his forehead against Bucky’s back, and drifts off again.

Only to awaken in the morning to the brief sensation of falling followed by a painful landing, his head and left elbow taking the worst of the impact. “Shit, ow!” Tony groans, curling up and cradling his head with his right hand. He doesn’t feel blood or a lump or anything, which is good because getting seriously injured in battle is one thing but getting a head injury from falling out of bed would just be embarrassing.

“Tony?” Bucky’s confused voice comes down from the bed. “What are you doing down there?”

Tony glares up at him. “Looking for a contact,” he replies sarcastically, “What do you think I’m doing? My bulky boyfriend rolled over and knocked me off the bed!”

“Oh.” Bucky looks sheepish. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

From behind him, Steve sits up and looks down as well. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he answers, but can’t hold back a grimace and he knows his lovers don’t believe him. Testing his elbow and deciding it’s bruised at most, he adds, “Nothing broken. But I’m done with that bed.”

“Tony...” Bucky’s face shows even more guilt, and behind him, Steve looks almost gutted.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Tony protests. “My bed is bigger, we can all fit easily. Or I’ll get you a new bigger bed, might be a bit cramped in here, but we can have the room expanded--”

“Tony,” Steve interrupts, now looking relieved but fondly exasperated (which is a look Tony’s grown accustomed to since he’s joined their relationship). “You don’t need to buy us a bigger bed, or tear out walls.”

“Yeah,” Bucky agrees, “If you’d rather we sleep in your bed, we can do that. We’ve just been used to sharing small beds since the ’30s.”

“Yeah, well, Steve was a lot less bulky then,” Tony points out, then laughs at the disgruntled face Steve makes. “Okay, my bed it is. Tonight. I think I’m up for the morning at this point.” He punctuates this by standing, relieved that his head doesn’t protest the motion.

“I still feel bad I pushed you out of bed, doll,” Bucky says. “Let me make it up to you?”

Tony grins. “What do you have in mind?”

They end up using the bed one more time that morning. It fits three a lot more easily when they’re not sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For other misadventures in Tony sharing a bed with Steve and Bucky, check out my fic [Cuddle Competition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8785234).


	4. Radio (Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An intriguing customer visits Tony’s repair shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-WWII AU.

Tony was just finishing up a watch repair when the door opened with a ring of the bell. “Be with you in a minute,” he said without looking up.

“Take your time,” a smooth voice replied.

Tony was relieved it wasn’t one of the more impatient customers. He closed up the watch, then stood to greet the newcomer.

Tony’s eyes went first to the Zenith radio the man was cradling in his right arm, then to the empty sleeve on his left, then to the man’s face. His features were striking, long dark hair, bright blue-grey eyes, and a mouth that made Tony want to do all sorts of illegal things. His expression was wary, though, and Tony realized he might be waiting for some kind of negative reaction regarding his missing left arm.

Instead, Tony simply greeted, “How can I help you? Need that fixed, or wanting to sell it?” He nodded at the radio.

The man looked relieved, but then grimaced down at the radio. “Both, unfortunately. I tried to fix it myself but I don’t have the right tools or parts, and I need the money more than I need the radio.” He bit his lips, looking disappointed at the thought of selling it.

He could have tried to lie about the condition of the radio, Tony mused, to get a better price for it. Intrigued by the first part of what he’d said as well, Tony asked, “So if you had the right equipment you could fix it?”

The man looked up, brow wrinkling. “Probably, but I can’t afford it.”

“What parts need replacement?” Tony asked.

Still looking confused, the man named a couple of items that Tony knew he had lying around and weren’t all that costly.

Tony moved to his workspace, set the newly repaired watch aside, and gestured to the chair. “Sit down, I’ll grab you what you need.”

The man blinked. “I don’t...”

“Sit. I’m Tony, what can I call you?” Tony turned to start collecting the needed supplies, but he heard the chair move and assumed the man had finally taken a seat.

“I’m... Bucky.” The hesitation suggested an uncertainty about what name to give, but the name didn’t sound like one made up for anonymity, like John or James.

“Well, Bucky,” Tony said, placing the supplies on the desk, “Let’s see what you can do.”

Bucky looked between him and the equipment. “I told you I can’t afford the parts.”

“Out of work?”

Bucky shrugged the shoulder with the empty sleeve. “Not a lot of people looking to hire a one-armed ex-soldier. Only reason I’m not on the street is I’m bunking with a friend, but he doesn’t have much either.”

Tony grimaced in sympathy. Work had been hard to find for some returning from the war, and he imagined it was even harder for amputees.

“Parts are on the house. Consider it my thanks for your military service.”

Clearly still bewildered by Tony, Bucky looked down at the tools and began to take the radio apart.

Tony simply leaned against a nearby table and watched.

Bucky looked up at Tony repeatedly at first, but eventually focused on the repair, securing the radio against his chest as needed when not having a second hand complicated the job. Tony had to stop himself from reaching out to help a few times, but it turned out his help was unnecessary. Bucky’s right hand’s fingers were deft, working together to hold and remove and place and turn with impressive ease.

Soon he was closing it up and turning the radio upright. He glanced up at Tony.

“Moment of truth?” Tony asked.

Bucky nodded, and turned the knob.

Static squealed for a moment but then the clear sound of an announcer came out lout and clear, “--first game back since--”

The joy on Bucky’s face was clear, and Tony couldn’t help but grin himself. “Nicely done.”

Bucky turned the volume down, perhaps not wanting to silence completely the evidence of his hard work just yet. “Thank you. For the parts and everything. Don’t suppose you’d pay more for a working radio?”

Tony frowned. The point was to let him keep the radio he clearly wanted. “It’s yours, you didn’t look happy to be giving it up.”

Bucky sighed. “Doesn’t matter, I need the--”

“How about a job instead?” Tony interrupted.

Bucky’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Consider that repair your interview, I’ve been needing an assistant around here.” Pepper had been nagging him about getting one, anyway, insisting that since she kept his books she knew better than he did what he needed and could afford, and one of the things she thought he needed was more time away from the shop. Which he couldn’t do when there was no one else to run the place.

Several different emotions flitted across Bucky’s face, ending with a glare. “I don’t need a pity hire.”

“Good. If I wanted a pity hire, I would’ve hired Justin Hammer.”

“Who?”

“Let’s just say I doubt he could do with four hands what you can do with just one.” Tony felt that was an understatement regarding Hammer’s capabilities, but it got the point across. “Look, you showed me you’ve got the skills. I suspect radios aren’t all you’ve worked with, but even if they are, I can teach you what you need to fix whatever else people bring in. You’re polite but also seem comfortable with silence. Not sure what else I could ask for in a worker.” Tony refrained from mentioning the side benefit of Bucky being easy on the eyes. “So, do you want the job?”

“If you’re seriously offering, then yeah, I'll take it. Probably should take any job I can get at this point, but... this seems like a nice enough place to work, with a nice enough boss.” Tony hoped he wasn’t imagining the appreciative look Bucky gave him at that. “So, when do I start?”


	5. Blade (Steve/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve doesn’t see the blade in time, but Tony does.

It’s a charity gala, there should be no need to be on guard for an attack.

Steve doesn’t see the blade in time. Neither does event security.

Unfortunately, Tony does.

“ _Steve!_ ”

Steve hears the shout and turns in time to see Tony interposing himself between Steve and a small but muscular man lunging in with a knife. Tony’s hands execute an impressive maneuver that disarms the man, but in the process takes a slice down the left sleeve of his expensive suit. He hisses in pain, falling back.

Steve steps in with an upper cut that knocks the guy out. Then he turns to the late-arriving event security and orders, “Call SHIELD and an ambulance.” If the man was targeting Captain America specifically, this probably wasn’t an ordinary police matter.

Only then does Steve let himself turn to Tony, who’s still holding his arm and grimacing. “How bad is it?” There doesn’t seem to be a lot of blood, so that’s a good sign, at least.

“I’ve had worse paper cuts,” Tony dismisses. “I’m more pissed about the jacket, really, do you have any idea how much this cost?”

“I’m sure I don’t want to know,” Steve replies dryly, but adds, “Let’s get you to a bathroom to get the wound cleaned.”

“It’s really not--” Tony takes a look at Steve’s face and gives in, “Fine.”

In the men’s room, Tony refuses Steve’s help to take off the jacket. He removes it, folding it and looking at it with a pout before placing it on the counter.

The sleeve of Tony’s white dress shirt is definitely ruined, a several-inch line of bright red surrounding the slice. Tony uncuffs the shirt to pull the sleeve up, and Steve is relieved to see the cut really doesn’t appear to be too deep.

“See, it’s not that--” Tony cuts himself off, swaying slightly. “Shit.”

Suddenly concerned again, Steve reaches out to steady him. “What is it?” It shouldn’t be enough blood loss to cause Tony to go into shock, right?

“I think...” Tony meets Steve’s eyes, and his heart leaps in his throat at the fear in them. “I think that blade was poisoned.”

Steve barely catches him in time as he passes out.

* * *

Fury insists on assigning Steve a security detail, because someone is apparently after Captain America. They haven’t gotten details from the attacker yet to determine who he’s working for, but they’re pretty sure he wasn’t working alone. Steve’s not sure the SHIELD agents will be much help against someone prepared to take on a supersoldier, but he doesn’t care enough to fight the command, as long as he can go to the hospital to see Tony.

Apparently the poison from the blade was actually a tranquilizer--but a tranquilizer meant to take down a supersoldier is still potentially deadly to an baseline human. Especially one who already has heart issues, like Tony.

But the doctor thinks he’s out of the woods and that he’ll wake up within the next few hours, and the wound itself is bandaged, no stitches necessary. Steve thanks the doctor, doffs the suit jacket he’s still wearing, and sits down beside the bed. Thankfully the SHIELD security detail agree to wait outside the room to give them some privacy when there are no medical personnel checking on Tony’s vitals.

Once alone with the still-unconscious Tony, Steve hesitates but eventually reaches out to clasp Tony’s hand. They’re just friends, but Steve thinks recently they might’ve been heading toward something more. Steve wants to be heading toward something more.

It would just be a lot easier if Tony weren’t such a self-sacrificing idiot.

“You need to stop doing things like this, Tony,” Steve says quietly, knowing Tony isn’t hearing him anyway. “Stop taking hits meant for me, especially when you’re not even in your armor. Please. I’d rather take a hundred hits myself than lose you.”

He almost expects Tony to wake up at that and call him an idiot. But it doesn’t happen.

* * *

Much later, Steve is starting to doze--not sleep, but resting his eyes and letting his mind zone out for a bit--when he feels the hand he’s holding tighten.

Steve opens his eyes to see Tony doing the same, and he smiles.

“Hey,” Steve greets him, voice quiet as seems appropriate in the dimmed nighttime lighting. “Welcome back.”

Tony starts to speak but coughs, and Steve releases his hand to help him drink a small amount of water to soothe his throat. “Poison?”

“Tranquilizer,” Steve answers, and frowns. “Which was meant for me but could’ve been fatal for you.” He knows he shouldn’t be berating Tony right now, not when he just woke up, but Steve just keeps imagining what could’ve happened if Tony had gotten a higher dose of the poison, if he hadn’t been treated in time, if he’d just been outright _stabbed_...

“Apparently it wasn’t,” Tony replies flippantly.

“ _Tony_...” Steve means for it to come out as reprimanding (though he should’ve learned by now Tony never reacts well to that), but his voice cracks with emotion instead.

“Hey,” Tony says, grabbing for Steve’s hand again, even though they’ve never held hands before today. Steve squeezes back gratefully. “I’m here. I’m okay.” No longer flippant, his eyes are serious as they gaze into Steve’s. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“I hate when you do things like that.” Steve swallows. “I don’t want to lose you.”

The corner of Tony’s mouth twists up in an sympathetic grimace. “I don’t want to lose you, either.”

“I love you.” Steve is startled by his own sudden admission.

Tony’s mouth drops open and his eyes widen.

“Sorry, I didn’t--” Steve starts to pull his hand away, but Tony tightens his grip, using it to pull Steve closer, using his other hand to clasp the front of Steve’s shirt (his dress shirt, because he hadn’t bothered changing, though he’d removed his jacket) and drag him until he was almost falling into the hospital bed.

“Kiss me,” Tony says, and Steve does.

He tries to keep it light and gentle, cognizant that Tony’s still recovering, but Tony unsurprisingly pushes into it more passionately, before pulling back--but not releasing Steve.

“I love you, too,” he says. “And I’m never going to let you get hurt if I can stop it.”

Steve has to take a moment to come down from the high of finally getting to kiss Tony, of having Tony explicitly return his feelings. “Can you at least try not to get yourself hurt in the process?”

“I’ll do my best.” Tony’s words are light, but his eyes are serious. Then he smiles and pulls Steve in for another kiss.


	6. Rodent (Natasha & Avengers Team, Steve/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor brings some alien pets to the Tower. Natasha has a plan to convince Tony to let them stay.

Natasha hears strange sounds coming from the common area before she enters the room. Then she blinks at the sight before her.

“Nat!” Clint greets her before she can ask. “Look what Thor brought me from Asgard!”

“I am pleased that you are happy with them, my friend, but storelskas are from Nidavellir, not Asgard,” Thor corrects.

“Whatever, they’re mine now, and they love me.” Clint nuzzles an animal that appears to be a small purple six-legged rat, while holding another out toward Nat. “Want to hold one?”

“Were they that color before Clint got to them?” Natasha asks Thor, ignoring Clint.

“Of course! This is the storelskas’ natural coloring.” Thor reaches out to scratch under the chin of the rodent Clint is holding out, and it makes a contented chirping sound.

“And you’ve gotten Tony’s permission to have these here?” Natasha is sure she knows the answer to that. Tony and Steve have been out of town on a romantic getaway for a few days, and she highly doubts Thor and Clint thought to discuss this with the man who is technically their landlord in advance.

Clint frowns. “We live here, too, and he’s never said we can’t have pets.” He cradles both creatures in his arms, and the two curl up together.

“He’s also never said you can have exotic animals from another planet.”

“I can assure him the storelskas will not harm anyone,” Thor states, both he and Clint looking disappointed at the thought they might not be able to keep the animals.

Natasha looks at the furry creatures, snuggling together like otters. They are actually pretty cute, she admits to herself. “I may have an idea.” She turns to Bruce, who’s been sitting in the corner the whole time pretending to read a book. (She’s seen him glance up several times, and she’s sure he wants to pet the storelskas but is either afraid to hurt them or afraid to get attached.) “Bruce, do you still crochet?”

“Yes...” He looks a little concerned at suddenly becoming involved in the conversation. “Why?”

“I think we can get Tony to let the storelskas stay.”

* * *

“Okay, I’m not sure this is going to convince Tony,” Clint tells Natasha, adding the finishing touch of the crochet shield to the back of the storelska now dressed in a tiny Captain America uniform. The other animal sniffs at its friend, more curious about the other’s new garments than the red and yellow Iron Man armor it has already been granted. The colors should clash with the purple fur, but somehow the effect works anyway. “But these outfits are pretty sweet, Bruce.”

“Indeed,” Thor agrees.

“Thanks.” As always, Bruce’s smile looks like he’s not sure he deserves the praise, but it really is impressive what he’s managed to put together in less than a day.

“The costumes are really great, Bruce,” Natasha concurs, “But they’re just the first part of the plan.”

And it looks like they got things together right on time, as JARVIS announces, “Pardon me, but Sir and Captain Rogers have just entered the elevator.” Thankfully the AI agreed not to notify Tony of the newest residents before his return home, so long as they posed no threat to people or property.

“In the cage,” Natasha orders, and the animals are placed in the several-cubed-foot cage they’ve acquired to keep them confined. Because she’s positive Tony will not agree to alien rodents running around underfoot and unsupervised, even if the rest of her plan goes smoothly.

They hear the banter of their incoming teammates before it’s suddenly cut off when they turn the corner. “Is that... did you bring _rodents_ into my Tower?” Tony asks incredulously.

“They are storelskas!” Thor announces, and while Natasha would have preferred to ease Tony into the fact that they aren’t from Earth, she sees the other part of her plan is proceeding just as she’d expected.

Steve peers into the cage, curious at first, then his face softens into the expression he usually wears when Tony falls asleep on him during movie night. The two creatures are curled up together on a pillow inside the cage, but the Iron Man storelska has lifted its top half to look up at Steve, displaying the tiny blue button representing the arc reactor. Natasha could not possibly have planned its timing any better, and she mentally thanks the animal for playing along so perfectly as she sees Steve’s heart melt even more.

Steve reaches into the cage, apparently oblivious to the fact that Tony is upbraiding JARVIS for not notifying him that his home has been “overrun with alien rats”, and offers a hand to the curious storelska. It sniffs him, then nudges its head into his fingers and chirps as he pets it.

Tony’s tirade at JARVIS, Thor, and Clint (Bruce seems to have disappeared, surely wanting to avoid the argument potentially getting heated) slowly peters out as he finally notices his boyfriend communing with the offending animals. The “armored” one has now crawled up into Steve’s hand, and he brings it up to his face to touch their noses together.

By the look on Tony’s face, he knows he has already lost, but he protests anyway, “That thing could have rabies. Space rabies.”

“Look Tiny Iron Man in the eye and say that,” Steve says with gravitas.

“Steve,” Tony begins.

“No, that one’s Steve,” Steve says, pointing to the one still in the cage, now looking up between the two of them. “And Little Steve loves Little Tony.”

Clint starts to snicker and Natasha steps on his foot to shut him up.

Tony looks at the Captain America storelska, then back at the one Steve’s holding. Steve puts it back in the cage, and it immediately goes to snuggle with its buddy again.

Steve slumps, looking up at Tony through his lashes. “If you really think we shouldn’t keep them...” He is most definitely using his most manipulative kicked puppy voice and body language, and Tony definitely knows it, but Natasha doubts knowing is enough to counter its power.

Tony sighs, and turns to Thor. “You can find food for them here?”

Thor smiles brightly. “Indeed, storelskas eat plants very similar to some Midgardian vegetables and fruits.”

“So we can keep them?” Clint asks hopefully.

Tony looks back at Steve, who is now smiling his ‘I’ve won, but you shouldn’t feel bad about it’ smile. “They can stay,” Tony agrees.

Clint and Thor whoop in joy, while Steve just says sincerely, “Thank you, Tony.”

“Yeah, yeah... at least they’re small.”

Natasha takes note of the guilty look on Thor’s face, but says nothing.

* * *

A year later, Natasha looks up from her book, not disrupting the storelska perched on her shoulder, as she hears the familiar sound of stiletto heels.

“Tony, I need you to sign these now!” Pepper insists, entering the common area, narrowly avoiding spearing a storelska with her shoe.

The littlest one races to join its siblings trying to grab the grapes that Clint and Thor are passing to each other (and occasionally letting the little ones grab). Nearby, their mother--as it turns out, “Little Tony” was female, and is no longer so little--sits in Steve’s lap, giving a contented croak once in a while as he pets her.

“Sorry, can’t. Capybara’s on me,” Tony grumbles from the couch, where he is indeed pinned by a Great-Dane-sized rodent who no longer wears full Captain America garb but still sleeps with his tiny shield. “It’s not my fault Thor didn’t warn me these things were going to become ROUSes.”

“If you truly do not want them here any longer, I can return the storelskas to Nidavellir.” It’s not the first time Thor’s made the offer, and everyone knows it’s never going to be accepted.

“Try it and you’ll get a repulsor to the face,” Tony threatens, clasping his favorite to his chest and getting a lick to the face in response. “Ugh, but if they have any storelska-strength mouthwash there, could you pick up a few gallons?”

Natasha smiles. She knew her plan would work.


	7. Fancy (Steve & Morgan, Steve/Tony, Tony/Pepper-ish)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan almost spills Tony's surprise at a tea party with Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in the 5-years during Endgame, but also kind of an AU.
> 
> Minor content warnings at end of chapter.

Steve isn’t sure why Tony invited him out to the cabin where he lives with his wife and daughter. He’s been there a few times over the years, but usually for a social evening with the team, not just him.

Steve can handle seeing Tony happy with his family when their mutual found family is around. It’s harder to cope when he has to see that domestic bliss on his own. Tony seems to know it, too, and the occasional apologetic looks he gives somehow make Steve feel even worse. Their brief fling before Tony and Pepper got back together was years ago, but Steve just can’t let go of his feelings for Tony.

But he’s always going to come when Tony calls, so he’s here now.

“Uncle Steve!” He’s greeted by a bundle of energy charging toward him before he’s even off the bike.

He manages to dismount in time to grab the charging girl and spin her around in a hug. “Hey there, kiddo! You’re getting big!”

“I grew two inches!” Morgan announces proudly.

“Wow,” Steve says, “Soon you’ll be taller than your dad!”

“No, silly,” she denies with the confidence of a child, “I’m still his little girl.”

Steve’s smile softens at that as he sets her on her feet. “Yes, you are. And that’s a lovely dress you have there.” It’s a bright green and printed with little colorful test tubes and other science images, because of course Tony’s going to raise himself a genius.

“Thank you,” she says. “You’re not dressed up, but you can come to my tea party anyway.”

Steve laughs. “Maybe later, I’m here to see your dad?”

“He and Mommy are finishing something, he said I was supposed to ‘entertain’ you, so come on,” Morgan grabs his hand and starts pulling him to a little table set up out on the lawn.

Steve knows Tony and Pepper could be finishing up just about anything, and they certainly wouldn’t be doing anything risque during the day with their daughter around and a guest showing up shortly, but he still has to force the uncomfortable image out of his mind and focus on Morgan.

Looking down at Morgan's table, he decides he might break the little plastic chair if he tries to sit in it, so instead he just kneels on the ground beside it. “This is a very fancy tea party you have here,” he says. There are several plastic teacups--not a drop of liquid in any of them, which is a bit of a relief--and saucers and even some little candles with plastic “flame”. In one of the three chairs at the table sits a large plush spider wearing a little bow tie and a top hat.

“Yeah,” Morgan agrees, and picks up the little plastic kettle to “pour” tea for Steve.

He thanks her, and pretends to sip the nonexistent tea as she follows up with “And some for you, Mr. Spider.” Then she pours her own tea and looks up at Steve again. “Do you know what else ‘fancy’ means?”

“What does it mean?” Steve asks, curious about what she’s going to say.

“It means when you like someone and want to kiss them. Do you know who my daddy fancies?”

Before Steve can put on a happy face and give the answer of ‘your mommy, of course,’ he hears footsteps behind him.

“Morguna, are you giving away daddy’s secrets?”

Steve turns to smile at Tony, as Morgan says firmly, “Mommy says we shouldn’t keep secrets, only surprises.”

“You are absolutely right,” Tony agrees, tapping her on the nose and making her giggle. “So, are you spoiling Daddy’s surprises?”

“Umm...” There’s something charmingly familiar in Morgan’s ‘caught’ face.

“Umm...? That sounds like a yes, young lady.”

“Nu-uh, I didn’t!”

“Because I interrupted you before you could?”

“...yeah.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. How about you continue your tea party with Mr. Spider here while I go talk to Uncle Steve?”

She makes a face and looks about to protest, but after a pointed look from Tony she says, “Okay, Daddy.”

Tony gestures for Steve to walk with him, and they head for a trail circling the lake.

“You’re good with her,” Steve tells Tony, not for the first time.

“So are you,” Tony returns, and there’s something speculative in his eyes.

Still not sure why he was asked to come, Steve wonders if maybe Tony needs a babysitter for her sometime soon. He knows Happy often fills that role, but maybe he’s busy. The idea of being trusted with her fills Steve with warmth, though he has to shove down thoughts of Tony and Pepper on some romantic holiday. “If you need me to look after her at some point, I’ll make sure my schedule’s clear.”

“Huh?” The confusion on Tony’s face makes it obvious Steve did not guess correctly about the reason for the invitation. “Oh, uh, thanks,” Tony recovers, “I really appreciate that, Steve.”

Suddenly he stops walking and turns to face Steve.

His mouth opens, then closes as he seems to reconsider what he’s going to say. Then, in a sudden rush, he blurts, “PepperandIaregettingadivorce.”

Steve stares, first in confusion as he tries to parse the sentence, then in shock as he realizes the meaning. “Oh,” he says unintelligently.

“How does that make you feel?” Tony asks.

“Shouldn’t that be my line?” Steve responds dryly. Then, more seriously, he continues, “I’m sorry, Tony.”

“Sorry, huh?” Tony’s face has gone oddly blank.

Well, sure, his heart seems to be pounding out ‘he’s single, he’s single’ as blood rushes in his ears, but that’s not what’s important right now. “I know you love her, so I’m sorry, it must be difficult.”

Tony’s mouth quirks in a not-quite smile. “Yes and no. It was her idea, and we do love each other, but... we’re not _in_ love anymore.”

“You don’t fancy each other?” Steve asks, remembering Morgan’s phrasing and wondering if that’s how they’d explained the concept to her.

Tony’s smile turns real. “Yeah, exactly. We’re still friends, and I have no doubt Pep’ll still be an amazing mother. We did consider staying together at least a few more years for Morgan, but...”

Steve waits, but Tony doesn’t continue. “But?” he prompts.

“But Pepper knew I, well, ‘fancied’ someone else.”

Steve’s heart is now pounding harder. Morgan had mentioned Tony liking someone, but at the time he’d assumed it was Pepper.

It could be anyone, but... why would Tony have called him out here to tell him this alone, if it’s not...?

Tony is looking at him with an expectant expression that’s slowly fading to blank, and Steve realizes he’s missed a question.

“Wait, sorry, can you repeat that?”

“I asked if you still... fancied me.”

Steve smiles. “Always, Tony. Do you fancy me?”

Tony looks a little flustered, and tries to cover it by joking, “Well, you and the mail carrier, it’s the uniform, I think, it just--” He cuts himself off as Steve reaches out to take his hands.

“Morgan says when you fancy someone it means you like them and you want to kiss them,” Steve says, his voice going a little raspy as he takes a step closer.

Tony licks his lips, eyeing Steve’s. “Have I mentioned my girl’s a genius?”

“Of course she is, she’s yours.”

_And so am I_ , Steve thinks, as their lips meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings: Mention of divorce (Tony/Pepper), no cheating but feelings toward someone while in a monogamous relationship with someone else.


	8. Teeth (Bucky/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accelerated healing has limits, and Bucky has trauma.

Bucky forgets almost immediately the backhand he takes to the jaw that has him spitting blood. Sure, it hurts and momentarily makes him wish he were sniping instead of in hand-to-hand combat right now, but he’s taken worse hits and healed up fast, so he dismisses the pain and helps the team take down the minions while Tony locates the head honcho.

When it’s all over and they’re discussing where to have their post-battle meal, Bucky realizes his jaw still feels a bit sore when he talks, so he stops talking. Since he’s one of the the quietest on the team anyway, no one seems to notice.

Unfortunately, Tony does notice when his boyfriend doesn’t take a second bite of his burger.

“Okay, you supersoldiers are supposed to be digging in right now and replacing all your battle energy. Something wrong with the burger?” Tony keeps his voice low, leaving the others to their more boisterous conversation.

Bucky shakes his head. “I’m just... thinking soup instead.” If he doesn’t open his mouth much, talking isn’t too bad.

As he flags down the waiter and places his new order, Tony stares at him. “You don’t like soup,” he says suspiciously.

“I never said that.”

“You said you’d had enough of soup back in the Depression and if you never had soup again it would be too soon.”

He might’ve been particularly--what was the word Clint used, ‘hangry’?--when he’d said that, but it’s true soup is not his favorite, and Tony knows it. Unfortunately, biting into the burger had _hurt_.

“Might be a little sore from a punch I took,” Bucky admits, gently feeling his jaw. There’s no sharp pain as he gently prods, not like there was when he took that one bite of his burger.

“Is it broken?” Tony asks with concern, reaching out a hand but not touching.

“I don’t think so, but even if it is, it’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Bucky points out. Super healing sure is handy.

Tony frowns. “I just hate when you’re hurt.”

“I know, doll. But I’ll be okay, really.” He looks at his burger. It tasted great, and he really would like to finish it. “I just need to find a way to save this for tomorrow without Steve or Thor getting to it.”

Tony snorts. “Good luck there.”

* * *

By morning, Bucky has forgotten about his injury. He’s up before anyone else but Steve, who’s out on a run. Alone in the kitchen, he pours himself a bowl of oatmeal squares and milk, takes a spoonful, and--

_Ow!_

He’s spit the cereal back in the bowl before even thinking about it, grateful no one else was around to see that. But shit, he’s not better. And now it’s obvious it’s not his jaw that’s injured, it’s his teeth. Or maybe it had been both, but his jaw got better first? He feels around with his tongue and--ow, yeah, there are some small jagged edges that shouldn’t feel like that.

“JARVIS,” he says slowly, “How long does it take for teeth to heal?”

“I’m afraid, Sergeant Barnes, that teeth are composed primarily of minerals rather than living tissue, and as such are not able to repair themselves the way bones can. Minor damage due to decay can heal slowly over time, but a deep cavity or broken tooth will not mend itself without medical intervention.” After a pause, probably to let Bucky process that depressing news, the AI questions, “Do you require a dentist? I can arrange--”

“No!” Bucky interrupts, a jolt going through him at the thought. “No, thank you, JARVIS,” he says, and moves to dump his cereal and find a softer breakfast.

Apparently he won’t be eating that burger after all.

* * *

Bucky tries not to let anyone else know what’s wrong. When Tony asks how he’s feeling, he answers honestly that his jaw is perfectly fine.

But his boyfriend eyes his food choices suspiciously over the next day or two. And certain impact activities like running or jumping jar Bucky’s teeth painfully, and he catches Natasha narrowing her eyes at his occasional winces. Steve seems to notice something’s off as well, but accepts Bucky’s casual brush-offs.

Finally Tony corners him. “Sweetheart. You’re in pain. Do you have a broken tooth?”

Bucky wonders if JARVIS told him about their conversation. “It’s fine. It’ll get better.”

“No,” Tony sighs. “It won’t. You need a dentist.”

It feels like cold water’s been thrown over him. “No! No dentist.”

Tony reaches out to take his hand. “It’s okay to be nervous. A lot of people have a fear of dentists.”

“I’m not scared of--” Bucky bites his lip, trying to dispel the image in his head.

“Then what is it?”

Bucky closes his eyes, but it makes the image more clear so he opens them again. He shakes his head, not wanting to talk about it but at the same time wanting Tony to know and he doesn’t know which is going to win. “It’s... the chair.”

Bucky sees the moment understanding comes over Tony’s face, and is for once grateful that his boyfriend has seen some of the footage of what he went through with Hydra, so Bucky doesn’t have to say anything else.

“Okay,” Tony says.

“Okay?”

Tony nods. “Okay,” he repeats, but says nothing more on the subject, just squeezes Bucky’s hand and asks if ramen’s good for dinner.

* * *

The next day, Bucky’s getting sick of all the food that doesn’t hurt his teeth, and watches with envy as Clint and Thor eat ice cream in front of him and he has to turn down their offer to share.

But that afternoon, while Bucky’s reading a book in a recliner in the common area, Tony comes in with a bottle and hands it to him.

“What’s this?” He sets his book aside and takes the bottle. He doesn’t recognize the alphabet or the image on the label.

“Asgardian mead.”

Bucky raises an eyebrow. “You know I can’t get drunk.”

Tony shakes his head. “You can’t get drunk on Earth alcohol. Steve’s gotten drunk off of this stuff before, it should work for you, too.”

“Huh.” He supposes it could dull the pain a bit, where normal painkillers fail him. Maybe if he drinks the right amount he’ll be able to eat real food for dinner.

“I figure if you start now, you should be starting to feel it by the time they get here.”

“They?”

“Dr. Rosenfeld and her assistant.”

Bucky tenses. “A dentist?”

“Hey,” Tony murmurs, reaching out a hand to brush Bucky’s hair back soothingly, “It’s okay. You’re not going anywhere, they’re coming here. You can stay right where you are.” He taps the recliner.

No chair. No dentist chair that reminds him of _the_ chair that Hydra used to torture and brainwash him. Just a soft recliner in his own home, with...

“You’ll stay?” Bucky hates how meekly his voice comes out, because maybe he’s still a little afraid of the dentist and the tools they’ll use even if _the chair_ won’t be involved.

“Of course,” Tony promises, and pets his hair again. “I’ll be with you the whole time.”

* * *

When it’s over and the dentist is gone, Bucky breathes a deep sigh and relaxes back into the recliner. He tenderly opens and closes his mouth, feeling a slight resistance from whatever she used to seal up the cracks, but no sharp pain.

“Better?” Tony asks. True to his word, he’d stayed with Bucky through the whole process.

“Better,” Bucky agrees. “Thank you.”

Tony shrugs, like hiring house-call dentists is something anyone would do for their trauma-ridden partner. “I just don’t like seeing you in pain.” He smiles. “Now, what do you think about pizza for dinner?”

“God, yes,” Bucky enthuses. “And...” He gives Tony a wicked grin, eyes drifting down meaningfully before going back up to his face. “I’m thinking a celebratory dessert tonight.”

Tony grins back. “I like the sound of that.”


	9. Throw (Steve/Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Impossible carnival games are not so impossible for super soldiers.

“We should bring something back for Tony,” Steve commented as they strolled Coney Island.

Bucky had hoped Tony’s workload for Stark Industries would’ve lightened up by their Saturday night recurring date night, but alas, someone somewhere had apparently lied about their progress on an upcoming release and, of course, Tony was needed to try to pull things together in time. Steve and Bucky had offered to postpone their planned date, but Tony insisted he’d be happier knowing he wasn’t holding his boyfriends back from a fun night out.

Bringing him a gift sounded like a great idea, but something in Steve’s face made Bucky suspicious. He followed Steve’s intent gaze not to a shop selling overpriced souvenirs or artery-clogging goodies, but to a game booth. It was the one with cans stacked in pyramids that needed to be knocked over to win, and a man had apparently just failed to do so, much to the disappointment of his girlfriend.

“No, Stevie, let’s just buy him something. You know those games are always rigged.” Bucky was pretty sure that was something that hadn’t changed since their childhood.

“I know they are,” Steve said, and uh oh, that was his righteous face. “But now, so are we.” He grinned at Bucky and walked straight for the booth. Bucky sighed and followed.

The game attendant, who looked barely out of his teens and entirely uninterested in being there, muttered the rules, set two balls in front of Steve, and stood back.

A mischievous glint his eyes, Steve eyed his target while tossing a ball from hand to hand, getting a feel for it. Then he pulled his arm back and threw.

The attendant smirked a little when the ball sailed over the cans entirely, but then his jaw dropped open in shock as it bounced off the back barrier and smashed into one of the bottom cans, sending all six toppling.

“Uh,” he said, “I--don’t know if that’s allowed?”

“You didn’t say anything about ricochets in the rules,” Bucky pointed out.

“I’ll take the stuffed Iron Man, please,” Steve said innocently, then held up the second ball. “Do I get to go again?”

The attendant looked a little flummoxed, and Bucky figured he hasn’t seen someone get all the cans in one throw before. “No, uh, you’d have to pay again to try again,” he stammered, grabbing the hook to pull down the requested prize.

“Well,” Bucky said, eying the plush Captain America still hanging on the wall, “I can’t let you have all the glory...” He paid, picked up a ball, and threw.

* * *

Tony yawned as he stepped into the elevator, feeling more exhausted by putting out SI metaphorical fires all week than he did when pulling all-nighters and putting out literal fires in the workshop (which also included trying to prevent DUM-E from spraying the fire-suppression foam over every surface even after the fire was out).

He was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by his grinning boyfriends as the elevator doors opened.

“Welcome home, Tony.” Steve stepped forward to kiss him, then stepped back to let Bucky do the same.

“Have a good date?” he asked, gradually noticing they both had one hand behind their back.

“Would’a been better with you there, doll, but we brought you something.”

They looked at each other and, in sync, hold out their gifts: Iron Man, Captain America, and Winter Soldier plushes.

Tony laughed, reaching out to take them and hug them to his chest. “I love them. Won them for me in a game of skill, did you?”

“Of course,” Bucky said matter-of-factly. “Had to throw some balls at some cans to prove our love, it’s a time-honored tradition.”

“Plus, that game is designed in a way only people with superpowers or incredible luck are going to be able to win prizes,” Steve grumbled. “So we had to do something about that.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “...you didn’t win just these, did you?”

“Um.” Steve’s expression showed a mix of guilt and pride that Tony’d never seen anyone else pull off quite so well.

Bucky smirked. “We won _all_ of them. Emptied the booth.”

“We only brought home the three, though,” Steve rushed to say, like he worried Tony would protest to having a room full of stuffed toys. (Normal people probably would, wouldn’t they? Pepper hadn’t seemed to appreciate a similar gift from Tony when they had dated, now that he thought about it...) “We gave the rest to kids around the park.”

“Of course you did,” Tony replied with a smile. “Well, thank you, I love them, but I’m exhausted. Time for bed with my boys.” He hugged the plushes again, then looked up at Steve and Bucky. “Oh, and you guys can come, too, if you want.”

They rolled their eyes, then put their arms around him as they headed for the bedroom. Missing their date wasn’t the worst thing, Tony thought, as long as he got to spend the night with his wonderful boyfriends.


	10. Hope (Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All seems hopeless when Bucky is recaptured by Hydra.

Bucky had laughed in their faces when Hydra tried to use his old trigger words on him. Thanks to Shuri and Tony, that programming was gone.

Unfortunately, raw power still worked, and they had the numbers to eventually wear him down. As he started to tire, becoming slower to block attacks and take down one minion after another, he felt a sharp pain on the side of his head, and then the world went black.

* * *

Bucky woke up as they were dragging him through a familiar hallway.

_No, no, no..._

He tried not to let on that he’d awoken, but he couldn’t help letting out a whimper as they entered a doorway and he saw it.

The chair.

All that time getting rid of the triggers, and they were just going to reprogram him again. Use him against innocent people, his friends, _Tony_...

One of the men carrying him chuckled at his distress. “Who’s laughing now?”

Bucky tried to appear defeated, knowing he’d only get one shot at getting free. There were still so many goons around it was probably hopeless, but he had to try. Maybe he could at least get himself shot; he’d rather die than become a merciless killer again.

The thought of what his death--or his return to the Winter Soldier--would do to Tony hurt Bucky more than the idea of death itself.

He was just starting to tense up for his final chance before they got him in the chair, when he heard it.

Explosions. Repulsors. Iron Man.

Bucky smiled. Tony was here to save him.


	11. Disgusting (Tony & Clint, Avengers Team)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the enemy you’re fighting explodes, the result can be... unpleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who's been leaving kudos and comments, especially Trez26! It really helps me keep going.

“Sir, I am detecting an energy buildup...”

At JARVIS’ warning, Tony shouted through the comms, “Everybody get back, it’s going to--!”

Then the giant alien squid-thing exploded, sending a bright green goo in every direction in a half-block radius.

Tony heard shouts and groans and a roar (Hulk) over the comms, but he didn’t think any sounded like pain. “Everyone okay?” The HUD was indicating the armor had been hit by some of the goo, though he hadn’t even felt the impact. “J, analyze composition.”

“Analyzing.”

“God, this stuff _reeks_ ,” Clint moaned, and Tony couldn’t help but grin, grateful the armor’s filtration systems weren’t allowing the apparently pungent smell through.

“Indeed, it is a most unpleasant odor,” Thor concurred.

“I think we’re all okay, though,” Steve answered Tony’s question, his voice a little strangled as he apparently tried not to gag.

“Analysis complete.” A list of chemicals displayed in the HUD as JARVIS summarized, “No hazards to humans beyond olfactory discomfort and potential mild itching, and no matches to known allergens among Avengers.”

“Good to hear, thanks, J.” Fortunately they’d gotten the docks cleared of civilians, so no need to worry about unknown individuals’ allergens. Tony relayed the news to the team, “Nothing dangerous, you all will just have to deal with the smell until you can hit the showers.”

“Says the man in the tin can,” Clint grumbled. “You don’t even smell it, do you?”

“Nope,” Tony replied with perhaps a little too much glee.

“Cap,” Natasha said, and Tony had a feeling he wouldn’t like what was coming, “What I’m hearing is that Iron Man is volunteering for clean-up duty.”

“Uh, did I say I couldn’t smell it? I think it’s coming through now. Yep, ugh, that’s disgusting.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Clint accused.

“Iron Man,” Steve said, “You stick around and help direct the HAZMAT teams, but once they have what they need, you can head back to get your armor cleaned up. We’re going to head back and get this stuff off.”

Tony sighed, supposing that wasn’t too bad, and the team really did look miserable covered in the green goo. “Fine.”

* * *

As long as he was there anyway, Tony had the HAZMAT teams spray down the suit, so at least he wouldn’t have to do that back at the tower and smell it when he took it off.

So the armor was sparkling clean like he’d been through a car wash (though the one time he’d actually tried that it had gone... poorly) when he landed on the tower platform and walked through the removal mechanisms. The t-shirt and jeans he’d been wearing underneath weren’t exactly clean, but they only had one day’s worth of sweat and grease from the workshop, so they weren’t the worst they’d ever been, either.

Then he walked through the door into the penthouse.

A strange hydraulics sound was his only warning before he was hit with a stream of liquid... and a horrendous stench.

He nearly gagged, hand flying up to cover his nose and mouth as he looked around for his attacker.

There, head sticking out from around the corner, was Clint, hair wet from the shower, holding a large water gun and grinning like a maniac.

“Really, Barton?” Tony shook his head. “Did you fill a Super Soaker with that crap just so you could force me to go through what you did?”

“It was a gift, didn’t want you missing out on that quality team bonding experience!” Clint replied gleefully.

Tony snorted, then regretted it as more of the disgusting smell flooded his nostrils. He grimaced, then glared at his teammate. Then he smiled, taking a few slow steps forward. “You know what? You’re right. Thank you for including me in this team bonding experience. Let me repay you with a nice...” He lunged forward, Clint realizing the danger only in the last second. “Hug!”

Clint bolted, and Tony raced after him, grinning as he sought to return the disgusting “gift”.


	12. Slippery (Steve/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a barista, and Tony takes a spill.

Steve loved working the overnight shift at the coffee shop. For the most part, it was quiet, and he could sketch when he wasn't helping the infrequent customers, cleaning counters, or mopping the floor. Sure, sometimes drunk college students came in after the bars closed, but if they got rowdy Steve’s disapproving lecture usually calmed them down, and if that didn’t work, he had the necessary stature to restrain or remove the more physical offenders. But that wasn’t the norm, and most of the late night customers sat quietly while working or studying.

Okay, maybe most of the reason he loved the shift was one particular customer: Tony.

Tony came in multiple times a week, usually after two in the morning. Sometimes he was bright and cheerful and rambled; Steve didn’t understand much of it but it was clear the man was some sort of genius inventor. Other times he was half asleep, barely coherent, and Steve found himself wanting to wrap the man up and put him to bed instead of serving him coffee.

It was possible he had a bit of a crush on the guy. Tony’s occasional flirting didn’t help.

Today, though, there was no flirting. Today was a barely-conscious day, Tony’s mumbling indecipherable but Steve just smiled and got him his usual, a dark roast with a cheese danish on the side.

There were times Tony took his order to go, but more often than not he sat at a table for a while tapping away on a tablet--or, if it were a mostly-unconscious day, staring into space. Today he started heading for his preferred table--unoccupied, like all the other tables at the moment--when Steve realized the recently-mopped floors might pose a hazard.

“Careful, the floor’s a little--” He winced as Tony’s feet slid out from under him and he hit the floor. “--Slippery.” Steve rushed out from behind the counter, then slowed to avoid the same fate as he approached the fallen man. “Are you okay?”

Tony groaned, but the impact seemed to have awakened him at least enough to speak actual words. “Ow. Am I dying? Are you an angel? Didn’t really expect to be going that direction, but I’m not going to say no to an angel as hot as you...”

Steve couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t see any blood, and it looked like Tony was mostly okay. “You’re not dying, Tony. And I’m not an angel, just a barista. Are you okay?”

Tony blinked, sitting up and looking around. “Oh.” He looked back at Steve, eyes a little more clear. “You’re not _just_ a barista, you are the only barista in the world who makes the perfect coffee. Though...” He winced. “I prefer taking it internally...” He flexed his hand and Steve belatedly realized his hot coffee had spilled on his arm and side.

“Come on, let’s get you up and dried off.” He guided Tony behind the counter to rinse his arm (thankfully not actually scalded) and then handed him a towel.

As Tony started to dry off both the coffee and the moisture from the wet floor, Steve started the coffee machine again. “I’ll get you a replacement coffee and danish, on me.” The first danish was, sadly, sitting in a puddle near the spilt coffee cup.

“I recommend not actually _on_ you,” Tony joked, gesturing to his still-damp shirt. “Though I’d be happy to lick it _off_ you...” His eyes widened. “That was horrible, I’m sorry, ignore me, I haven’t slept since Tuesday--”

“Will you go to dinner with me?” Steve surprised both of them by asking. But before Tony could respond, he backtracked to hear the rest of what the man had said. “Wait, _Tuesday?_ ”

“Uh, I think so? Why, what day is it?”

No wonder Tony had seemed so out of it. Steve shut off the coffee machine again. “That’s it, I’m cutting you off.”

Tony frowned. “What are you, a bartender?”

“You need sleep,” Steve insisted. “Go home, go to bed.”

Tony stared at him. “Wait, can we go back to the part where you asked me out?”

“Doesn’t matter, you’re sleep-deprived and possibly concussed--”

“I didn’t hit my head--”

“You need to go home.”

Tony studied him for a moment. “Then dinner?” he asked hopefully.

Steve smiled. “Put my number in your phone, call me if you’re still interested when you’ve actually gotten a full eight hours of sleep.”

“Five.”

“Is this a negotiation?” Steve asked incredulously. “Okay, get six hours of sleep, then you can call me if you still want to go out.”

“I will,” Tony promised.

Steve gave him his number and sent him on his way, confident he was awake enough at least to get home alright. Then he cleaned up the spilt coffee and soggy danish and mopped again.

He loved the overnight shift.


	13. Dune (Tony & Yinsen)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yinsen saves Tony one more time.

Tony takes another step, and stares at the dune ahead of him.

It’s not a mountain. It’s barely a change in elevation.

It seems insurmountable.

He stops, falling to his knees. He would give anything right now for a single swallow of water.

He closes his eyes.

“You will not even attempt to honor a dying man’s wish?”

He opens his eyes to see Yinsen standing before him, chest bloody yet standing as though uninjured.

Not really Yinsen, of course. Yinsen is dead, his body not even buried before Tony blew the camp to hell before his brief flight.

So Tony’s hallucinating now. Wonderful.

“I told you not to waste your life. Yet here you are, giving up.” Tony’s hallucination looks down at him in disappointment.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have gone and died for me,” Tony bites out, channeling his anger and frustration about the man’s actions rather than give into the guilt and grief.

“My time was over,” Yinsen says calmly. “You still have much to do.”

“Yeah? You gonna tell me how I’m supposed to do anything when I’m alone in a desert wasteland?”

“Keep moving. Stay alive. Do not give up hope.”

Tony barks out a mirthless laugh, then starts to cough as his parched throat can’t handle it. When he recovers, he knows he shouldn’t waste energy or moisture talking to a hallucination, but he does it anyway. “Not seeing a lot of hope. Not seeing anything but sand and a dead man. For all I know I’m heading further from any chance of survival.”

Yinsen seems to look around the featureless landscape, then points toward Tony’s ten o’clock. “Go that way. He will find you.”

Tony wrinkles his brow in confusion. “Who?”

Then Yinsen is gone.

Tony sighs and somehow manages to bring himself back to a standing position. Then, because he has no good reason to pick any other direction, he heads in the direction his hallucination had pointed, wearily climbing the next dune, and the next.

Then he hears the helicopter.


	14. Armor (Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky returns from a mission and is surprised by Tony’s latest project.

Bucky always worried when he had to go on a radio-silence mission and couldn’t even call Tony for days or weeks.

He didn’t, as tabloids liked to claim, worry that Tony was cheating on him when he was away, or getting drunk the whole time. No, Tony wouldn’t do that. The problem was that when Bucky was away, Tony would get a little wrapped up in projects in the workshop. “A little wrapped up” meaning he’d forget about anything else--like eating or sleeping. Bucky always asked whichever Avengers weren’t on the mission to check on him, but there was only so much they could do when Tony seemed determined to spend every possible moment in the workshop.

This time, Bucky had only been away for five days, but from the smell when he entered the workshop, he suspected Tony had not showered in that time.

And he didn’t look like he’d slept recently, either. He was leaning against a lab table, scrolling through text or code on a holographic interface, but his eyes didn’t seem to be taking anything in, and he didn’t react to Bucky’s entrance.

“Tony,” Bucky greeted, but still got no response. He approached his boyfriend, calling his name again. “Tony, sweetheart, I’m home.”

As he reached out to touch Tony’s arm, the genius jerked, startled, and would have fallen if Bucky hadn’t reached out to steady him.

“Whoa, there, doll, just me.”

“Bucky, y’r hommmme...” Tony slurred. Then he frowned. “I’m not drunk, I pr'mise.”

“I know, love, I know you don’t do that anymore,” Bucky reassured him, though he worried sleep deprivation wasn’t much better for Tony. “Let’s get you to bed, huh?”

“Can’t sleep without you,” Tony murmured, pressing his face into Bucky’s chest.

Bucky felt warm at the admission, as much as he wished Tony could take care of himself even when he wasn’t around. “Well, I’m here, now, and I’ll--whoa!” He started to turn his lover towards the door only to find something unexpected in his path.

At first he thought it was a new bot, though smaller than the others. Then he realized that, while most of the four-legged body was covered in smooth metal styled in a familiar red and gold, there were definitely a furry little white head and ears sticking up out of the helmet.

“Tony, did you make armor for a cat?”

Tony looked down at it. “Um. Apparently?”

“And... we have a cat now?” The cat meowed at Bucky, as though answering in the affirmative.

Tony’s brow wrinkled in thought. “Snowball,” he said after a moment, nodding decisively.

“Okay...” Bucky said, looking around to see if there was a litter box anywhere nearby. The animal probably shouldn’t be left alone in the workshop regardless. There were dangerous... “That armor doesn’t have repulsors or anything, does it?” he asked warily.

There was a pause longer than Bucky was comfortable with, and the answer didn’t reassure him, either. “No repulsors... Laser...?”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “ _Laser?_ ”

Tony bent down, scratched the cat under the chin (which it seemed to appreciate, so at least it wasn’t feral) and then pressed something on the back of its small helmet.

A small red dot appeared on the floor, drawing the cat’s attention. As the cat--Snowball--moved, the dot moved, and Snowball bounded across the floor to chase it. A moment later, DUM-E followed.

Tony stood back up (only a little unsteadily) and grinned at Bucky. “Laser pointer.”

Bucky huffed a laugh. “Okay, laser _pointer_ I can live with. You think Snowball will wanna sleep in the bed with us? Maybe without the Iron Cat armor?”

Before Tony could answer, there was an electronic whine followed by a small blast from the other end of the workshop, then a squeal.

Bucky looked over to see DUM-E backing up and swirling his arm around, beeping offendedly. He didn’t look damaged, though there was a small blackened spot on the floor. Snowball was scratching at it, as though expecting to find something underneath.

Bucky sighed. “No repulsors, huh?”

Tony grinned sheepishly. “Oops?”


	15. Outpost (Steve/Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His lovers gone, Steve waits alone on a remote space station, trying to hold onto hope.

Steve looks out at the vast emptiness, tiny pinpricks of light in an endless dark. It’s a sight that once brought him excitement, the thrill of unknown adventures, but now just fills him with a sense of hollowness and loss, emphasizing his isolation.

It’s been three weeks since the end of the war. Three weeks since Tony knocked Steve out, took the station’s shuttle through the wormhole, and destroyed the passage from the other side, preventing any more Chitauri from making it through to terrorize this end of the galaxy... preventing any chance of his ever returning home.

It’s been four weeks since their other lover, Bucky, was killed aboard one of the Chitauri ships. Four weeks since they failed to even bring back his body, to properly mourn. Tony hadn’t wanted to lose both of them, he’d said in his final message to Steve, so if someone was going on a probable suicide mission it would be him.

It wasn’t necessarily a suicide mission. If he survived, he would find a way back, Tony’d promised.

If he survived.

It’s been two weeks since the Intergalactic Space Alliance ship came and left. Two weeks since Steve refused to leave the remote outpost, knowing that the chances of Tony returning were infinitesimal but unable to consider returning to active duty while knowing Tony could still be out there. General Fury hadn’t been happy about leaving Steve alone there indefinitely, had threatened to court martial him and throw him in prison if he failed to return, but Steve had called his bluff. Sending a famous war hero to prison would be bad PR, and considering the losses they’d suffered in the war, they needed to refill their ranks with new recruits.

It’s been one week since Tony’s old ship, the _Resilient_ , came and left. Tony’s friends--Rhodey and Pepper, Happy and Jarvis--had tried to convince him to join their crew, more sympathetically than Fury’s failed demands, but still he’d refused. When their friendly chats had started to feel like a wake rather than a discussion of what Steve would do until Tony returned, he politely but firmly asked them to leave.

Now, he waits, alone. He eats, he sleeps, he exercises, he sketches (page after page of Tony and Bucky, individually or together), but mostly, he stares out the window toward the empty area of space where the wormhole had been.

When he sleeps, the bed feels vast and cold and empty, like the view outside. Sometimes he has nightmares, but worse are the happy dreams of his time with his lovers--because then he wakes up, and the reality hurts more than ever.

It’s when dreaming of the wonderful time he’d had with Bucky and Tony on the beaches of New Tahiti that the alarms begin blaring.

* * *

In the control room, Steve stares at the view, no longer empty. The shapes are too far to see detail with the naked eye, but sensors show two human-shaped space suits, their thrusters sending them in the direction of the station. There are no ships nearby, but the alarms had evidently been set off by a large explosion. Had it been a ship?

Or had it been the wormhole?

Steve is trying and failing to discern faces in the helmets of the approaching space suits--because of course they’re just showing mirrored reflections of the light coming off of the outpost--when he receives an incoming message.

Heart pounding, he accepts the incoming hail.

“IGSA Outpost Alpha-Six, this is Lieutenant Tony Stark, do you read me?”

Steve all but collapses into the control chair, overwhelmed by the relief of hearing that familiar voice. It takes a moment for him to compose himself, during which Tony repeats his message, before Steve manages to hit the button to send a response. And even then, all that comes out is a breathy, “ _Tony..._ ”

 _“Steve?”_ Tony answers, _“God, it’s good to hear your voice. Miss me?” he asks almost irreverently._

“You have no idea.” Steve’s voice breaks, and he swallows, getting choked up.

Tony’s serious when he replies, _“I’m sorry. For leaving like that. I had to, and I don’t_ regret _it, but I’m sorry for the pain it caused you.”_ When Steve struggles to reply, Tony clears his throat. _“So, uh, gonna open the airlock for us?”_

Steve takes a deep breath, then manages to regain his usual command calm. “Of course. But who’s ‘us’?” He trusts Tony, knows his lover would never bring someone dangerous back with him, but as far as he knew there were only enemies on the other side of that wormhole.

There’s a pause, then Tony responds, _“A human I found on one of the Chitauri ships. He’s had a rough time, so when we come in, I need you to stay calm and not freak him out, okay?”_

Steve understands Tony’s warning, since he knows it’s going to be hard keeping his emotions under control having Tony back, and he can’t imagine what being a prisoner of the Chitauri must have done to the stranger.

Had Tony been a prisoner, too? “I’ll do my best. Are you okay?” Steve asks. “Do you or he need immediate medical treatment?” There obviously isn’t a doctor on the outpost, but it is fairly well stocked in medical supplies, and Steve has some field medic training.

Tony gives a humorless laugh. _“Neither of us are in great shape, but nothing is currently life threatening.”_ The qualifier ‘currently’ doesn’t make Steve feel much better. _“Just need to see you,”_ Tony says in almost a whisper.

“Yeah, me too, sweetheart,” Steve replies. “See you in a minute.”

* * *

Steve is waiting at the airlock, nearly bouncing with the anticipation of finally seeing Tony again. He forces himself to still his movements, after what Tony had implied about his companion’s current emotional state.

The second the two are inside and the outside door is shut, Steve opens the inside door. He realizes one figure is leaning a bit on the other--it’s still impossible to see their faces through the helmets, but he’s pretty sure the one supporting the other has Tony’s stature. He moves to the--injured? exhausted?--one’s other side to help take the load, startled to find that arm of the spacesuit loose and apparently empty. He recovers from his surprise and manages to offer his support anyway, closing the airlock as they make their way to the nearest bench and allow the injured man to slump down on it.

Once there, Tony--he was right about which was Tony, thank god--removes his helmet, and Steve finds himself pulling his lover into an embrace (awkward as it is with the bulky space suit) before he even realizes he’s moved. He presses his forehead to Tony’s, staring into his beautiful brown eyes--eyes mirroring the joy Steve is feeling, but also filled with exhaustion. “Honey, I’m home,” Tony says quietly with a soft smile.

“You’re late,” Steve responds, with what he’s sure is a ridiculously goofy smile, the endorphins of having Tony alive in his arms making him feel a little loopy.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Tony promises. “Now, uh, remember what I said about staying calm?”

Steve furrows his brow. He thinks he’s managed to show quite a reasonable level of restraint considering the circumstances.

He reluctantly lets go as Tony pulls back and moves to help the man slumped on the bench remove his own helmet.

“Oh, god...” Steve has to rest a hand on the wall to steady himself at the sudden light-headed feeling that overcomes him when he sees the injured man’s face. “ _Bucky..._ ”

Blue-grey eyes come up to meet his, almost unseeing for a moment before focusing. There’s a moment of strange uncertainty before Bucky--oh, god, it’s Bucky, he’s alive, how is he alive?--says in a lost voice, “Steve?”

Steve sobs, letting himself fall to his knees in front of Bucky, stopping himself from wrapping his arms around him only at the last second as he remembers Tony’s warning--which wasn’t about the ‘stranger’, and wasn’t about Steve’s reaction to seeing _Tony_ , but his reaction to seeing _Bucky_.

So instead of leaning forward, he stays where he is on the floor, but Bucky’s right arm--god, his other sleeve had been empty, had Bucky lost his left arm?--slowly reaches up and brushes Steve’s cheek. “Steve,” he says again, with a bit more certainty, but still looking a little lost.

Steve hears a choked sound from Tony, and he moves his gaze to his standing lover without moving his head away from Bucky’s gloved caress. There are tears in Tony’s eyes, and a smile that’s somehow happy and sad at the same time on his lips. “What’s wrong?”

Tony shakes his head. “Nothing, it’s good, he...” Tony swallows. “He didn’t remember me, at least not at first, so I’m glad he remembers you.”

 _Oh._ The thought that Bucky might not have remembered him hurts like a punch to the gut, and the knowledge that Tony’d had to experience that pain hurts like a fist around his heart. Steve reaches a hand out to Tony, who despite still wearing the space suit manages to kneel down beside him, and pulls him as close as he can into a side embrace.

Bucky’s hand moves from Steve’s face to Tony’s, brushing a tear away with his thumb, and Tony sobs, holding tighter onto Steve and leaning his face into Bucky’s touch.

“Thank you,” Steve whispers, “For bringing him home, for coming home. I love you both so much.”

He’s sure that things are not going to be easy after this, that Bucky and probably Tony as well will need healing from both physical and emotional traumas, but Steve is sure that they can get through it.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the halfway point! Which has been your favorite so far? I think this one is my own favorite at this point.
> 
> I've realized several of these this year have had themes of isolation and/or despair... Thanks, 2020.


	16. 16. Rocket (Tony & Jarvis)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets in trouble at school.

Tony waits outside the principal’s office, kicking his legs and trying to decide if he’s relieved Jarvis is the one who came in instead of his dad. His mom is off on some retreat in Italy, so he’d thought his dad would come in, and there would definitely have been yelling in that case. Jarvis won’t yell, but... Tony hates when he disappoints the butler, more than he hates upsetting his dad.

The door opens, and the principal and Jarvis step out. The principal gives him a stern glare before going back into his office. Jarvis just says, “Come along, Tony,” in a firm voice, and waits for Tony to follow him to the car.

Once Tony is settled in the back seat, Jarvis gets into the driver’s seat and but doesn’t start the car.

Tony looks to the rearview mirror, wondering why they haven’t started, and Jarvis is looking back at him expectantly. Not quite disappointed, not yet, but he doesn’t look happy.

“Master Tony, would you like to tell me why you fired your science fair rocket at your classmates?”

“It wasn’t _at_ them, it was over their heads!” Tony protests.

Jarvis’ eyebrow twitches. “My mistake,” he says dryly, in a tone that Tony loves when it’s Jarvis annoying dad with his judgement of dad’s orders, but one that makes Tony feel small when it’s directed at him. “Would you like to tell me why you fired your science fair rocket near enough to your classmates to risk injury?”

Tony looks out the window. “They deserved it.”

“Did they hurt you?” Tony can hear the worry in Jarvis’ voice, and it makes him feel a little better. He doesn’t think he’d hear the same if his dad asked that question--if he even thought to ask that question.

He’s tempted to lie, but he feels guilty when he lies to Jarvis. “No.”

There’s silence for a moment, and Tony looks up to meet Jarvis’ eyes again. “Then what did they do?”

Tony bites his lip, trying to decide how much to say. “They were gonna hurt some other kids.”

Jarvis’ eyes soften a little. He doesn’t look surprised, though Tony is pretty sure the principal hadn’t known there had been anyone else involved. Tony certainly didn’t mention them, and he figures the attackers probably won’t have confessed to their own wrongdoing. “Defending others is noble, but you should have gotten an adult instead.”

“I didn’t want the other kids to get in trouble,” Tony admits.

“Were they doing something they shouldn’t have been doing?”

Tony hesitates. He’s not giving someone else’s secret if he doesn’t give their names, right? “They... were kissing.”

Jarvis’ eyebrows go up. “Not an activity one should be doing at school, certainly, but why were you concerned they would be in trouble for it?”

Tony fidgets. This is the part that he definitely wouldn’t tell dad, and he’s a little afraid what Jarvis’ response will be, but he also... needs to know. “They were both boys,” he says quietly, forcing himself not to look away from the mirror.

So he sees Jarvis’ surprise, but no disgust or anger. “I see.”

“Do you think they would get in trouble for that?”

Jarvis looks... sad? “I don’t know. That would probably depend on the adult.”

Tony swallows and manages to ask, “What if it were you?”

“Well, as I said, I don’t believe that’s appropriate for school. But the fact that it was two boys? No. I believe that as long as two people care about each other, and no one is getting hurt... what they do in private should be no one’s business but their own.”

Tony feels a surge of relief, and has to turn to look out the window so Jarvis doesn’t see the tears in his eyes.

“Well,” Jarvis says, clearing his throat, “I must inform you that you are not to use rockets in the direction of your classmates ever again, whatever the reason may be.” His voice is firm, but thankfully, not the disappointment Tony had feared. “Now, as you are not to be in school for the rest of the day, would you like to go get some ice cream?”

Tony grins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I missed posting yesterday, I was not feeling well.
> 
> I may try to catch up, or I may just remain a bit behind, but my current plan is to finish all the Inktober prompts even if I miss a day here and there and end up going into November.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments that help me stay motivated to keep going!


	17. Storm (Steve/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony discovers the cause of the recent storms.

It takes Tony about a week to piece things together. As a genius, he knows he should’ve figured it out sooner, but in his defense, it’s not exactly an ordinary thing to suspect.

The first oddity is the nightly thunderstorms. Storms themselves aren’t unusual in New York this time of year, so Tony thinks nothing of it, at first. Still, when a particularly thunderous storm happens a fourth evening in a row, once again starting shortly after dinner and ending before Steve comes to the workshop to drag Tony to bed, Tony notices the pattern.

Also strange has been Thor’s morning behavior. Each morning for several days, Thor comes into the kitchen looking confused, on the verge of asking a question but then not doing so, even when Tony presses (after two cups of coffee, of course). Eventually the confusion goes away and, instead, Thor starts looking at Steve in a strange new way--admiring, and somehow smug. Tony tries not to feel threatened by a (kind of) god looking at his boyfriend like that.

Then Tony realizes that Steve’s hair has been damp when coming to retrieve him in the evenings. He’s noticed each individual time, of course--wet Steve is always a good look--but he isn’t suspicious until it’s happened multiple times in a row. Steve always takes morning showers, sometimes another shower later after particularly strenuous trainings or battles. He’s not an evening-shower person. But when Tony comments on it, Steve claims he “got caught in the rain”, or had a heavy workout with Bucky, and needed to shower after.

If it were anyone else, Tony might be worrying about his lover cheating. But he’s confident Steve would never do that. Not that Steve could never fall in love with someone else, because Tony still can’t entirely understand why Steve wants _him_ , but if he did want someone else, Tony is sure he would have the decency to break up with him before doing anything.

After a week, Tony finally puts the pieces together. At least, he has a hypothesis to test.

* * *

When the storm starts that night, Tony asks JARVIS where Steve is. Unsurprised by the answer, he grabs an umbrella and heads to the roof.

He hasn’t been outside in these storms, or even looked closely out the window, or checked the weather reports. So it’s when he steps out onto the roof that he first confirms that the rain seems localized, extending no more than a block or two in each direction, centered on Avengers Tower.

Centered on Steve, wielding Mjolnir.

Seeing his boyfriend holding aloft the mythic weapon that supposedly only Thor could wield, channeling lightning and unleashing it on various targets he seems to have set up, is awe-inspiring. Honestly, it’s a little bit terrifying, but in a way that turns Tony on at the same time.

Tony watches the majesty from under his umbrella, being sure to stay near the door, which he figures is a safe direction Steve won’t be sending the lightning--getting electrocuted by his boyfriend is not in his plans for the night. Steve hasn’t noticed him, and seems fully concentrated on his... training, Tony supposes this is.

Eventually Steve lowers the hammer, chest heaving with apparent exertion, and finally notices Tony. His eyes widen, then he grins his most adorable “aw, shucks, I’ve been caught” guilty grin.

“Been trying to hide the fact that you’re ‘worthy’, huh?” Tony asks, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the rain, though it seems to be diminishing now that Steve isn’t channeling the lightning. (He wonders what determines whether rain joins the lightning and thunder, considering it’s not always raining when Thor is fighting, but decides that’s a question for another time.)

Steve heads over to Tony, and Tony raises the umbrella high enough for his boyfriend to fit under it as well--not that it will do any good considering Steve’s already drenched, but it’ll let him stand closer.

“You remember that night when we were all trying to lift Mjolnir?” Steve says, and Tony nods, trying not to think about what had happened later that night. “I knew I could lift it then, but the look on Thor’s face stopped me. I didn’t want to embarrass him.”

“You do realize he knows now,” Tony points out. Steve can’t have missed the admiring looks. “And he doesn’t seem upset about it.”

Steve shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck, water still dripping everywhere. “Yeah, he apparently noticed the hammer had been moved, so he got suspicious and caught me. But he told me he was fine with it,”--Tony suspects that’s an understatement--“And told me to keep practicing with it. I figure it’ll be good to know what I’m doing just in case it’s ever necessary.”

“And you didn’t feel like sharing with the rest of us because...?”

Steve looks sheepish. “I didn’t want to show off that I could lift it when the rest of you couldn’t?”

Tony snorts, and Steve frowns. “Steve, darling, I know you try to rock the humble ‘just a kid from Brooklyn’ look, but you do want to show off.” Before Steve can protest, Tony continues, “You hide it because you don’t want other people to feel bad about themselves, but you do _want_ to show off when you’re capable of something incredible.”

Steve looks down, then raises just his eyes and god, Tony loves it when Steve looks through his lashes at him like that, and it’s even prettier with the tiny droplets of water on said lashes. “Maybe a little.” There’s a fond smile on his face.

Tony grins, reaches out, and pulls Steve in for a kiss, uncaring that his boyfriend is still dripping wet. “You are incredible, sweetheart,” he says, not pulling back from Steve’s lips. “Watching you control the lightning was amazing. You don’t need to hide it.”

“Thank you,” Steve replies earnestly. “So you want to watch me do it some more?”

“Absolutely,” Tony answers, “Tomorrow. Right now, I want to show you just how much I enjoyed the show...”


	18. Trap (Tony/Bucky)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trap is laid and an Avenger goes down.

“Tony, doll, you know it’s a trap.” Bucky kept his weapon at the ready, though from their current shelter behind a rock they were probably out of any direct line of fire.

“I know,” Tony admitted, feeling almost naked without his armor, even if he was still armed. “But it’s our best chance. I trigger the trap, you go in while they’re distracted.”

Bucky frowned, holding Tony’s hand tightly. “But you won’t make it back.”

“It’s my choice to risk it.”

Bucky shook his head. “Doll, please, let me do it instead.”

“No, you’re faster than I am, you have to be the one to make it out. You’re our only chance.”

Bucky pulled Tony in and hugged him tightly with his metal arm, weapon hanging loosely in his right. “I’ll come back for you.”

“There won’t be time,” Tony reminded him, gently. “You can’t risk being captured.”

“I don’t want to lose you.” Bucky’s voice broke on the last words.

“ _Oh my god you guys this is just a game!_ ”

Bucky abruptly pulled back from Tony, leaned out from behind their shelter, aimed into the branches of the tree from which the voice had come, and fired twice.

“Aw, _man_ ,” Clint moaned as the paintballs exploded in the center of his chest.

“A game we’re gonna win because you couldn’t handle a little tragic romance, Barton!” Tony shouted, exchanging a grin with Bucky. The plan had worked perfectly. “Cover me?” he asked his boyfriend.

“Always,” Bucky replied, and they headed out toward their objective, keeping an eye out for any other nearby opponents.

They heard Clint muttering as he dropped down from the tree and headed back to base camp. “ _Let them be on the same team,_ Cap says, _they’ll just distract each other and make it easier for us,_ Cap says, nobody listens to me...”

Tony and Bucky exchanged another grin.

And, of course, they won the game.


	19. Dizzy (Steve/Tony)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets his soulmate in the most embarrassing way possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Vomit (not graphically described but present and relevant)

“Come on, Stevie, what’s the worst that could happen?” Bucky says as he drags Steve into the line of people waiting to ride the Cyclone.

“I could have a heart attack and die,” Steve points at the sign listing all the “do not ride if...” conditions, several of which he’s had over the course of his twenty-one years.

Bucky pauses, eyes narrowing. “I thought your heart was better after that surgery back when we were in high school? You’ve been _skydiving_ , for cryin’ out loud!”

He decides not to mention to Bucky that he lied on the health history form when he won the raffle, because like hell he was going to miss out on a chance to go skydiving, for _free_. But it had been amazing and he didn’t even pass out, so he has to admit he thinks his heart is fine now and it’s not his health that has him concerned. “Okay, yeah, it’s fine, I just... skydiving doesn’t have all those turns. You know I get motion sick, what if I throw up on you?”

Bucky loses his worried and suspicious look, and grins. “Well, then, you can say ‘I told you so.’”

Steve grudgingly follows.

He doesn’t end up throwing up on Bucky. It’s worse. But... it’s also one of the best days of his life.

* * *

_  
One of the worst days of his life was the day he got his soulmark._

_He’d been so excited to feel the tingle on his chest, it was warm and bubbly, just like everyone had described it--because of course everyone in his grade had gotten their soulmarks long before him._

_But he finally felt it, and he leapt out of bed to go to the bathroom, pull open his nightshirt, and look in the mirror._

_It took a moment for his eyes and brain to reverse the mirror-image lettering, but when they finally made sense of it, he wished he’d never gotten his soulmark at all._

_**Oh my god, that’s disgusting.** _

_The first words his soulmate was going to say to him would be revulsion. Of course. Who would ever want a sick, scrawny nobody like him?_

* * *

_When a few years later his heart surgery put a long ugly scar through the middle of the words, Steve figured that was only appropriate, the words made even more ugly to match the rest of his body._

* * *

Bucky is whooping and cheering through the whole ride. Steve has to admit, the rush of wind is an exhilarating feeling, almost as thrilling as skydiving.

But Steve was right that the turns are too much. By the time the ride comes to a stop, Steve’s stomach is pretty sure it’s still going at sixty miles per hour, in a circle.

The world is spinning, and he barely manages to climb out of his seat.

“See?” he hears Bucky say. “Wasn’t that amazing?”

He wonders why Bucky’s getting further away, then realizes it’s him veering off to the left, dizziness taking full control of his body.

A stranger’s arms stop him from hitting the ground.

Unfortunately, that stop is the last straw for his stomach, which immediately hurls its contents (he definitely should not have had that hot dog) up his throat... and onto the chest of the person who grabbed him.

“Oh my god, that’s disgusting,” a masculine voice chokes out, but doesn’t immediately pull away or let Steve fall to the ground.

His stomach now no longer rebelling, Steve manages to pull himself together and stand up straight, cheeks burning in humiliation. “I’m so sorry,” he says, and only as he’s saying it does he realize exactly what the stranger said.

The bright warm honey-brown eyes of the stranger-- _his soulmate??_ \--widen in what Steve imagines is a reflection of his own shock. “Holy shit, are you...?”

Steve squeezes his eyes shut. Shock had momentarily eclipsed his humiliation, but now it’s back a hundredfold. “...the guy who met his soulmate while throwing up on him? Yep, that’s me, apparently.”

He hears Bucky snort, which doesn’t really surprise him (even though this is all Bucky’s fault, the jerk), but he has to admit he’s offended when he hears his soulmate laugh. Steve frowns and opens his eyes.

The man--probably about Steve’s age, maybe younger--has a sympathetic smile on his face, though, not a mocking one. This smile looks endearing, really, surrounded by a goatee that seemed both over-the-top and perfectly suited to him. “Sorry, I was just thinking I could see myself having been the one to do it instead, albeit probably one too many drinks rather than a rollercoaster.” He looks down at his t-shirt, the graphic on which is obscured by the remnants of Steve’s lunch, and carefully pulls it over his head, attempting not to get the filth on his skin or hair the process.

Then he chucks it into a nearby trash bin and turns to a dark-skinned man smirking nearby. “Stop laughing at me, Platypus, and go buy me a new shirt before I get kicked out of here.” He points to a nearby shop that would probably enforce ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ faster than the park itself. “Get the cheesiest one you can find. Ooh, maybe they have one that says ‘My soulmate barfed on me at Coney Island and all I got was this lousy t-shirt’!”

“Yeah, I’m sure they have one of those,” the friend--Platypus? that has to be a nickname--replies dryly, then turns toward the shop. “Or maybe one that says ‘Tony Stank’.”

“Come on, Rhodey, I thought you were finally going to let that die!”

“Nope, it’s making a comeback, deal with it,” the friend--Rhodey sounds a little more plausible to be a name?--retorts as he heads off.

Steve snorts, then winces as the action seems to amplify the taste of vomit in his mouth. He moves to the trash can to try to spit the rest out.

“Wait, Rhodey, also get a water bottle for, uh...?”

It takes Steve a moment to realize his soulmate is gesturing at him. “Oh. Steve.”

“Get Steve a water bottle to rinse out his mouth, I’ll pay you back for that and the shirt.”

Rhodey raises a hand in acknowledgement and continues toward the shop.

“You know, I think I’m gonna check out the shop, too,” Bucky says, shooting Steve a meaningful look, and follows the other man.

“Thanks,” Steve says, pleased his soulmate thought of helping him even after he just threw up on the man. “Uh, Tony, is it?”

“Yeah.” There’s an assessing look in Tony’s eyes. “Getting you water’s just self-serving, really, can’t kiss my soulmate if he’s gonna taste like puke.”

Steve blinks, heart suddenly pounding at that statement. “You want to kiss me?” he asks.

“Well, yeah,” Tony says matter-of-factly, but then the confidence seems to crack. “Unless... you don’t want to. I mean, we don’t--”

“But you think I’m disgusting,” Steve blurts out, wincing.

“I think vomit is disgusting, I think you’re adorable, why... oh.” Tony’s eyes widen. “Shit. Those are your soulmark words, aren’t they?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit, and I’d been worried about mine...”

Steve’s brow furrows. “Why? Wait, what did--” Even though it was mere minutes ago, he was so caught up in the humiliation that he doesn’t remember exactly what he said. An apology, he would hope. His eyes drift down to Tony’s bare chest for the first time, realizing his words should be right there.

But they aren’t.

Tony’s upper body isn’t bulky, but there are defined muscles, especially in his arms. In the center of his chest, though, where his soulmark should be, is a web of scaring. On the edges there are remnants of words, “I’m” and part of a “y”, but that’s all.

A hand comes up to block Steve’s view. “Not pretty, I know,” Tony says with a grimace, then looks toward the shop as though hoping his friend will be back with a shirt already.

Steve wants to ask what happened, but figures the middle of Coney Island isn’t the time or place. Instead, he simply asks, “Is your heart okay?”

Tony shrugs in a non-answer answer. “Okay enough.” He looks self-conscious, and Steve can’t have that.

“Don’t you know,” Steve says, lifting the front of his own shirt to show Tony what very few people have seen, the words that had brought him such duress cut by the scar of his own heart surgery, “That you shouldn’t ride a roller coaster if you have heart trouble?” He grins wryly at Tony.

Tony takes in the view, face going slack in surprise. Then, as Steve had hoped, he laughs.

* * *

Later, when they’re both cleaned up, Steve will feel a much more pleasant kind of dizzy when they share their first kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is super late, due to a combination of being busy and having an uncooperative muse. Sorry about that, I really do hope to keep going until I reach the end of the prompts!
> 
> Thank you so much for all the nice comments on the previous chapter, I’m glad the twist worked for people. :)

**Author's Note:**

> If you are enjoying this and want to see more, kudos/comments will help to encourage me. Thank you so much to everyone who has left positive feedback so far!


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